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A Note on the Camping Craze That is Currently Sweeping America

Brautigan, Richard

May 2nd, 2008 · 1 Comment

Fishing season began early this year for your Miette, with the streetside discovery of a freshly abandoned goldfish with wonky telescopic eyes, in its bowl and with a note reading:
Free Fish! Please Give Steve Buscemi a good home.
And of course I did. I found an exceptional home for him, a home where he’s […]

 
 A Note on the Camping Craze That is Currently Sweeping America by Richard Brautigan [9:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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Truth or Consequences

Gill, Brendan

April 18th, 2008 · 2 Comments

After a week of muscle-burning manual work and long long drives, some of us settle in with a nice cold beer. For others– maybe like me, who’s to say — it takes more that that… way more, maybe, to relax muscles as sore as these and attempt to put together nerves which have been plucked to the bone. For that reason, perhaps it’s best to just shut up and read (if you’re me) or grab a beer and listen (if you’re you) and maybe write the Pulitzer committee about considering a Podcasting category.

 
 Truth or Consequences by Brendan Gill [14:09m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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Last Class

Roethke, Theodore

April 4th, 2008 · No Comments

All week I’ve been wanting to read this to you, waking up more excited than the trashman on the day-after-Christmas, and running into my…. uh… recording studio (read: three paces from the bed) to see if it’s quiet enough…

 
 Last Class by Theodore Roethke [22:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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Binoculars

Musil, Robert

March 25th, 2008 · No Comments

A saw a sign the other day while out on a drive, a sign that said this: Frost Heaves.

And I almost had to stop and compose myself, because I was so deeply distressed by the fact that frost can’t heave in private (and I’m not a histrionic sort of girl), and saddened that a frost’s heave has to be announced clearly for any old asshole who happens to be driving by…

 
 Binoculars by Robert Musil [18:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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A Handful of Dates

Salih, Tayeb

March 20th, 2008 · 3 Comments

The question that’s been asked a few times of me now: why don’t I read more African writers? Actually, it’s been asked more than a few times… enough times, in fact, to warrant the sort of qualifier most accurately described as MANY.

 
 A Handful of Dates by Tayeb Salih [26:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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In a Hole

Elliott, George P.

March 12th, 2008 · No Comments

It’s confusing, the name of tonight’s author, right? I mean, the better known writer sharing this name didn’t bother with a middle pseudonymous initial, and there’s a slight tweak to the surname, but we readers would be none the wiser, push-to-shove, and would settle back with a cup of tea and upperclass accent.

 
 In a Hole by George P. Elliott [26:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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Lonesome Road

Berriault, Gina

February 28th, 2008 · 1 Comment

A mildly embarrassing problem when getting under way with tonight’s story, confessed in full in these lines: when I first sat down to read it to you this evening, I got caught on a raft in a sea of lexical continental drift, and over and over I stammered out the title only to have it read “Roadsome Load.” No kidding: again and again.

 
 Lonesome Road by Gina Berriault [18:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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Some of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Colby

Barthelme, Donald

February 19th, 2008 · 4 Comments

As I lay writhing on my sickbed I was catching up on my milehigh stack of unread periodicals, and made my way to an article about one of the leading competitors for an upcoming race for a high position of public office in the country in which I’m living.

Because, you know, there aren’t many articles written about this, which is surprising, because from the sound of things, the race for this public office is not of no importance….

 
 Some of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Colby by Donald Barthelme [12:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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Lawyer Kraykowski’s Dancer

Gombrowicz, Witold

February 4th, 2008 · 2 Comments

A few days ago I was driving down the street behind a car which, as was warned by prominent display of rooftop sign, was being operated by a Student Driver… a sign which really wasn’t necessary, given the stammering mid-intersection braking and sideview-mirror clipping taking place all the way down the road, and I had this great idea that it’d be a real public service - a true exercise of civic duty - if other drivers could collectively contribute to driving lessons, by driving like raving lunatics around students, just to get them on their toes and on the lookout.

 
 Lawyer Kraykowski's Dancer by Witold Gombrowicz [34:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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From the Mouths of Buildings

Krampf, Carl

January 29th, 2008 · 3 Comments

A message from the author of today’s story:

Do you ever wonder as you are reading a story, or hearing one, such as on a podcast, for example, what or whom has inspired a particular story? Picture this: imaginary “directions” or “instructions” for a story that the author creates– after the story has been written–or told. Imagine that these “directives” led to this story–which in actuality they did not–well at least the author had no idea of any directives of any sort when the story came into being.

 
 From the Mouths of Buildings by Carl Krampf [16:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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